Cayzle's Wemic Site
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Liontaurs, gaming, wemics, Dungeons and Dragons, and more.
As I've previously detailed, the thing I love most about Third Edition D&D is its amazing flexibility and elegance. A PC of any race can take any class, any feat, any skill, and at each character level, you can pick a level from any class, or take a level from many prestige classes. The elegance is that the rules to do so are both easy and balanced; it's as easy to make a cleric 3 / wizard 3 / mystic theurge 10 / thaumaturgist 4 as to make a fighter 20.
That flexibility -- the power to create a character a la carte, with a level here, a few more there -- is remarkable and empowering for players. The game promises ultimate flexibility and, to a degree, delivers.
In large measure, I have not moved to the new Fourth Edition of the rules because they are a departure from this philosophy. (For the record, a few of my other problems include the influence of minis and MMORPGs on the rules and flavor; the anti-open-content attitude, itself also a departure from 3E; the (mis)treatment of alignment; and the way that all classes basically perform the same mechanistically, just with different flavor text for each.)
But in practice, even Third Edition does not live up to the promise of complete balance and ease of use. So I have been toying with ways to improve upon 3E. One option might be to rework all the core classes -- and I still may do so. Or I could create all new classes from scratch, and I decided to try that.
By way of background, years and years ago, Clinton R. Nixon, a game developer, was running an online game magazine called RPG Evolution, if memory serves. There I read a set of rules for running very small creatures (mice, rats, etc) as players in a game called "Vermin." It was open source under the d20 license, so I feel free to be inspired by it. I found a copy of it on the Wayback Machine, and I still love the concept. So I'm going to remake Vermin in my own image.
First off, I'm not going to call it Vermin, since that's a game term in 3E that refers to giant insects and other invertebrates. So I came up with and considered a few other options. "Small Fry" is too cutsey. "Bugs," too limiting. Hey! rather than a noun, how about a verb? "Scurry" works kind of well -- that'll serve as a working title.
So what sets Scurry off from standard 3.5 D&D? Here are a few highlights:
1) Smooth, fractional progression of saves and attacks with level.
2) No special boost when you take first level in a class.
3) Every level delivers something useful; no one level offers much more than another,
4) Multi-class casters are more balanced in power with single-class casters.
5) Feat and ability score boosts progress evenly.
A historic election. A time for change in America. And a time of change for me too, I think. To be specific, I have a long to do list: Get in better shape. Be more active on the home front. Ramp it up at work. Do more with this blog. Yup, color me shallow -- some people will be inspired by the election results to volunteer and help others, but I'm inspired to embark on self-improvement. Oh well. Maybe I can squeeze in a few good works too.
As for this blog, I'll be posting episodes of my Web comic every Monday morning without fail. (The Nov. 11 episode is in the can!) And I'll have a screed of some kind -- on D&D, or on wemics, or on something of interest around the Intertubes -- at least once a week too. That seems doable.
I could moan and whine about the hurdles -- my hard drive failing, illness in the family, other game commitments, how kids eat your time, that I started a daily blog at work -- but rather, I'll dwell on the upbeat and commit to getting the job done. Do I think I can pull it off? As President-elect Obama said last night,
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. There will be setbacks and false starts. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
Links
One of the long long overdue jobs on this site is updating the links on the left-hand side of the screen. I've started that job, adding new links, weeding out the marginal and ancient. As time goes on, I'll find more. And of course, that means visiting them and commenting on them more frequently.
Wemics
Another of those long overdue jobs -- bringing the wemic content on the site up to date. To start, I've got a double handful of links to add to my wemic links pages. I also need to add the history of wemic origins, and some mention of wemics in Fourth Edition D&D. Granted, I don't play that game myself, but others do, and I've found one link, to start with, on the topic.
D&D
And yeah, I am no fan of Fourth Edition. I ranted about that at length this spring, but I'm done complaining, even if my complaints remain incomplete. A better choice, I figure, would be to take my complaints about Fourth Edition -- and Third Edition, for that matter -- and show how one could make the game better! I'll be starting a long series on D&D done right, based on a new campaign setting, with new races and classes. Look for that Friday.
And remember those "setbacks and false starts" President Obama mentioned? Well, I meant for this screed to go up live on my site on Nov. 5, the day after Election Day. I'm typing this on Nov. 6. Oh well.
Update [9 Nov 08] Added photo, link to my work blog.
There is a new edition of Dungeons and Dragons coming out. For a long time, the bits and pieces of news I have heard about 4E have left a sour taste in my mouth. I've been groping toward how I would do a 3.5 revamp right, rather than make the mistakes that WotC seems to be making. Take a look at the links at the bottom of this screed for more.
Of course, I was aware that Paizo was also making a 3.75 revamp. I downloaded the alpha and was a little more than somewhat underwhelmed. Too much of a power boost to the core classes (to keep up with the splat book arms race I figured). Too little change that actually fixes what is wrong.
So I started to write my own set of fixes (see those links below). But the fact is, no one will ever play a revised D&D that i write and post on my little blog. Even if I did make a nice PDF and release it for free, those who would actually use it would be very few.
And I have heard through the grapevine that Paizo is actually being very responsive to suggestions. So I have decided to really give the full court press on the Paizo boards for my ideas on how to improve D&D. Who knows -- if I am loud enough, and if my arguments are strong enough -- maybe I can make a difference.
Here are some of the Paizo message board threads on which I've posted so far. I'll update this screed with more as I write them.
This is an ancillary part of my ongoing series on How I Would Fix D&D 3.5.
First-level characters in 3E D&D are fragile, sure. But the game softens the blow a little, by granting full hit points to first level characters, and by awarding quadruple the normal number of skill points as well. Both of these benefits only accrue at first level.
The problem is that these benefits -- granted only at character level 1, not when you take the first level of a class -- end up creating a balance issue for multiclass characters: The class you take first matters.
For example, if you want to make a skill-focussed cleric/bard, the rules strongly encourage you to take the bard class at first level, since that maximizes your skill ranks.
And compare the fighter1/rogue1 (16 skill ranks, 13.5 hp on average for an Int 10, Con 10 PC) to a rogue1/fighter1 (34 skill ranks, 11.5 hp on average).
If you wanted to make a barbarian/cleric, there is absolutely no reason to take the cleric level first. The barbarian1/cleric1 has 16.5 hp and 18 skill ranks; the cleric1/barbarian1 has 14.5 hp and 12 skill ranks.
The game gives starting characters another bonus: an extra boost to saving throws at first level. But this bonus applies to higher level PCs when they take a second class -- giving multi-class characters a saving throw boost that singletons do not enjoy. A cleric2/monk2/ranger2 has base saves of Will+6, Fort+9, and Reflex+6 at character level 6. A singleton monk does not equal that until level 8 for Will and Reflex, and not until level 14 for Will. And monks have the best saves in the game.
So looking at these three game mechanics that give the Level One Bump -- hit points, skill ranks, and saves at first level -- the system clearly breaks down a little for multiclass characters.
The promise of 3E's multiclassing rules is the promise of level equivalence, that is, no one combination of classes should be more or less powerful than another. Yes, with any span of choices, some choices will be more optimal than others, but the game should act to minimize the imbalance. The Level One Bump undermines that philosophy, because it contributes to some level choices being more powerful than others.
So we have to consider removing the Level One Bump.
And yet, the Level One Bump serves an important purpose. Brand new characters ARE fragile, and they need a bit of a boost. There's nothing wrong with a bump at first level, so long as it applies equally to all characters, and so long as it does not create artifacts like favoring one multiclass option over another, or over a single class option.
Here is my solution: Make the bump a factor of race, not class. Yes, give starting characters extra save bonuses, skill ranks, and hit points ... but make those benefits a consequence of race selection, not class choice.
PROPOSED RULE CHANGES
Characters do not gain max hit points at first level -- instead, they roll normally, as they do for every level. Characters do not gain quadruple skill ranks at first level -- instead, they get the normal ranks plus Int bonus that they do at every level. Also, there is no unusual boost to saves at first level -- instead, saving throws progress normally (see future screed on this topic).
Add the following benefits to the description for each race.
Dwarf: Add five racial bonus hit points. Add +1 to all Fortitude saving throws. Spend 9 + (3 x Int bonus) points on buying class skills, putting no more than three ranks in class skills and 1.5 ranks in cross-class skills. Class skills for dwarves are: Appraise, Craft, Knowledge (dungeoneering), Listen, Profession, Search.
Elf: Add two racial bonus hit points. Add +1 to all Reflex and Will saving throws. Spend 15 + (3 x Int bonus) points on buying skill ranks, putting no more than three ranks in class skills and 1.5 ranks in cross-class skills. Class skills for elves are: Balance, Climb, Concentration, Diplomacy, Knowledge (all), Craft, Hide, Listen, Move Silent, Perform, Profession, Search, Spellcraft, Spot, Survival, Tumble.
Gnome: Add four racial bonus hit points. Add +1 to all Will saving throws. Spend 12 + (3 x Int bonus) points on buying class skills, putting no more than three ranks in class skills and 1.5 ranks in cross-class skills. Class skills for dwarves are: Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Gather Info, Knowledge (all), Listen, Perform, Profession, Search, Sleight of Hand, Spellcraft, Spot, Tumble.
Half-Elf: Add four racial bonus hit points. Add +1 to all Will or Reflex saving throws (player's choice). Spend 12 + (3 x Int bonus) points on buying class skills, putting no more than three ranks in class skills and 1.5 ranks in cross-class skills. Class skills for half-elves are: All Int-, Chr-, and Wis- based skills.
Halfling: Add three racial bonus hit points. Add +1 to all Will saving throws. Spend 15 + (3 x Int bonus) points on buying class skills, putting no more than three ranks in class skills and 1.5 ranks in cross-class skills. Class skills for halflings are: Appraise, Climb, Craft, Jump, Knowledge (geography), Listen, Profession, Search, Spot, and all Dex-based skills.
Half-Orc: Add six racial bonus hit points. Add +1 to all Fort saving throws. Spend 6 + (3 x Int bonus) points on buying class skills, putting no more than three ranks in class skills and 1.5 ranks in cross-class skills. Class skills for half-orcs are: Climb, Craft, Intimidation, Listen, Profession, Ride, Handle Animal, Rope Use, Spot, Survival, Swim.
Human: Add four racial bonus hit points. Add +1 to all Will or Fort or Reflex saving throws (player's choice). Spend 12 + (3 x Int bonus) points on buying class skills, plus another 3 as a human racial feature, putting no more than three ranks in any one skill. All skills are class skills for humans.
This is part one of an ongoing series on How I Would Fix D&D 3.5.
The promise of Dungeons and Dragons -- in all its editions -- is that two characters at the same character level will be comparable in power. This is the essence of game balance, and it satisfies us because it is fair.
The elegant solution to multiclassing in 3E is that when you advance a character level, you can take any available class level. ("Available" here means that you have to take level 1 in a class before you take level 2. You can't take cleric 5 before you take cleric 4.)
And since the game promises balance among characters of different classes, it also promises balance among characters of different multiclasses.
Now, let's step back for some caveats. In actual play, not all characters at the same character level are balanced so as to be equal in power:
1) Players are free to make suboptimal choices. A fighter using a dagger is not as powerful as a fighter using a greatsword. A sorcerer who selects Floating Disk and Disguise Self is not as powerful one who chooses Sleep and Shocking Grasp.
2) Not all classes are equal. Although this point is debatable -- and has been debated to death and back -- even if you make the most optimal choices, the high-level cleric is generally acknowledged to be more powerful than the high-level fighter, for example.
3) Not all levels are equal within a class. For example, a fighter 5 gains a hit die, skill ranks, and +1 BAB. A fighter 6 gains all that plus a feat and +1 on all saves. Moreover, all classes gain an extra boost to saves at level 1. And at level 1, one's skill ranks are quadrupled, and hit dice are maximized -- so if you want to be a skill monkey, the game pushes you to take a level of rogue or ranger or bard at first level.
4) Many multiclass combinations are clearly unbalanced. A cleric 5 / wizard 5 is not as powerful as a cleric 10 or a wizard 10. The mystic theurge, the arcane trickster, and the eldritch knight are all attempts to fix these problems -- for divinist/arcanists, rogue/arcanists, and warrior/arcanists, respectively. And some multiclass combos, especially using splat books, but also in a few cases for core classes, are more powerful. For example, in stacking save bonuses.
But that does not mean game balance is a lie. Rather, it just means that the game has room for improvement. That's what I aim to offer in this series.
Goals:
This is part one of an ongoing series on How I Would Fix D&D 3.5.
